Complementary Therapy - Report Example

Introduction Palliative care would be termed as an approach that would be increasing the quality of life of patients and also the life of family. There has been quality of life of the patient that would be the most important part of Palliative care. Patients suffering from a painful disease like cancer would normally need all types of support and Palliative care would be the ideal one for it. There has been individual who has been suffering from disease and the treatment given to the patient only. Palliative care has been giving treatment for families and that would mean that the members of the family would be given all the support for the patient. The principles of Palliative care would be that there would be no harm being done to others, there would be good that has to be done for patients and patients would be given all the information to make the correct decision. Complimentary treatment Palliative care could be also termed as “alternative”, “complementary” or “traditional” healthcare. There has been accusation against palliative care in the form of being labeled unscientific and it would be causing harm to the patients. Complimentary treatment would be normally used to refer the diverse group of health related therapies and disciplines. Palliative care should not be considered as mainstream medical care(House of Lords, 2000). Complimentary treatment could be playing an important role in relieving symptoms and that could be said as improving the quality of life. It has been seen as complimentary treatment would be helping children with cancer and this has been considered as a palliative care. The normal complimentary treatment that has been used would be herbs, remedies or tonics and supplements of dietary. There could be usage of creams, injections, powders, homeopathic medicines and vitamin supplements and mineral supplements. There has been a manual therapy like massage and aromatherapy that has been used and there has been a body-mind therapy that has been used (Armishaw J, Grant C, 1999) The complementary therapies could be very expensive and there has been very much concern for the rising cost of the palliative care. There has been no support in some cases from the nursing community as they feel it has been obstructing the treatment process. Complimentary treatment would be including a large range of therapies that would be including physical, psychological and pharmacological (Rankin-Box D, 1997) The most widely used complimentary therapies among patients has been touch therapies like aromatherapy, reflexology and massage. There have been psychological interventions and that would be relaxation, mediation and visualization. There has been more clinical approach from the side of nurses and they have been not averse to the concept of complimentary therapy. The most popular complimentary therapy would include aromatherapy, reflexology, massage and relaxation. To palliate would mean that the patient condition would be seeing as less harsh and that would be easing the symptoms without curing. Orthodox medical opinion has been changing for certain diseases and that has been widely appreciated in medical circles. The basic principle and aims of complimentary therapy would include relax tension, pain and other symptoms, relax, revitalize and nurture, improve circulation and balance energy flow and support psychoneuroimmunological response. There has been literature review that has said about the use of massage for reducing scores on scales that would be measuring anxiety and there has been a study that has been showing that using of Neroli essential oil and vegetable oil has been seen as lowering the blood pressure and the heart rates (Sawyer M et al, 1994) There has been significant use of oils in reducing the anxiety. There has been reduction of physical and emotional symptoms in the patients. There was statistically significant on the scores of patients who have been using aromatherapy for patients. Aromatherapy massage has been a commonly used complementary therapy, and has been employed in cancer and palliative care largely to improve quality of life and reduce psychological distress. There has been relaxation that has been used for cancer patients and there has to be relaxation method that has been used for other types of patients. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been used for solving people problems like anxiety, depression. The therapy has been formulated to change people's thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and expectations; and Behavioral therapy, designed to change how people acted. That means how patient think and feel would be affecting the treatment process and there has to be change in the thoughts and behavior process. The other method of relaxation technique should be said as yoga. Yoga Sutras has been having eight limbs, or disciplines, of yoga: yamas (ethical disciplines), niyamas (individualobservances), asana (postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (withdrawal of senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (self-realization, enlightenment)( Iyengar BKS, Razazan D, eds.,2001). Yoga would be having beneficial effects on physical and emotional health (Cohen L, Warneke C, Fouladi RT, et al.,2004).There would be improved appetite improved sleep, improved bowel habits, and feeling of peace and tranquility .( Culos-Reed S, Carlson LE, Daroux LM, et al. ,2004) Health professionals could be taking more relaxation techniques on themselves before trying it out on others. There has to be active patient involvement in any form of relaxation technique. There has to be a deeper inhalation and deeper exhalation that would be reducing the pressure of the body and there should not be any slumping, as that would be affecting the breathing process. There has to be usage of visualization in the minds of the patients and that should be more positive and more tune with the treatment process. There has to be more usage of positive frame in the minds of those patients else that would be affecting the relaxation process. There would be happy childhood image that would be used for understanding the disease and taking a strong positive method for treatment (Dimond B, 1997). There has been many visits like the animal companion visit that would be helping the patient to relax more. There would be a failure of visualization and imagery in patients who is having psychosis problem. The individuals would be taught in getting full control of the situation. There would be many patients who may be finding it difficult to walk and they has to be taught the relaxation techniques by sitting near them. There has to be an approach for affirmation that has to be used extensively and that would be complimenting the need for visualization and affirmation would be helping the patient to meet the desired needs. There could be use of deep relaxation technique by the nurses and that would be bringing an amount of change in the minds of the patients. That would be also bringing a change in the mind of the patients to the nurses and they could be able to go along way forward in meeting the needs of the patients (Chadwick D ,1999) There could be a Family-centered care that would be involving a two-way process between the nurse and the patient and family to construct a mutually agreed plan of care, with everyone getting an equal value. Patients has been seen as health professionals as being unsupportive in their choice of treatment and that would mean that nurses and doctors should be wary of these. (Kemper K, 2001) There could be some alternative therapies that could be interfering with orthodox treatment and the seeking alternative treatment would be delaying the use of orthodox medicine for those with a potentially severe illness and it is in these areas that nurses should be more supportive and that would be allowing the patient to become more open (Fitch M et al, 1999) There could be cases in which patients would not be willing to disclose the use of complimentary treatment to the doctors, and the role of nurses then would be to negotiate between patients and family and the doctors. An open discussion would be helping alternative treatment to become more accepted. Complimentary practices in palliative care would mean that health professionals like nurses would be having adequate knowledge and training appropriate supporting standards and policies within the hospital setting. There has to be clear development of guidelines and protocols that has to be used in complimentary treatment and patients should be feeling supported in their choice of treatment. There could be use of use of complimentary treatment in all patients that could be seen as recommended as best practice for doctors. Nurses caring for patient with cancer should be entering the palliative phase and that would be ensuring multidisciplinary in treatment process. Multidisciplinary collaboration and communication are the two necessary things that the complimentary treatment would be needing if they has to succeed and that would be playing a significant role in symptom control and pain management in the palliative phase and there has to be team discussions that would be helping the doctors and nurses and that would be taking the treatment process forward. Patients feel comfortable to approach nurses and they would be considering nurses as the best to approach for multidisciplinary. In normal circumstances cancer patients and their families would be normally attracted to alternative and complementary therapies. There has to be better knowledge and understanding health professionals that could be assisting them to make informed choices about such therapies. It has been seen that alternative treatments give the patients/families a degree of hope and influence the way they see disease and get some control over their lives. References Armishaw J, Grant C (1999) Use of complementary treatment by those hospitalized with acute illnessArchives of Disease in Childhood. 81,133-137. Chadwick D (1999) What are the reasons for nurses using complementary therapy in practice? Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery. 5, 144-148. Dimond B (1997) Questions and answers on the legal aspects of complementary therapies.Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery. 6, 156-159. Fitch M et al (1999) Nurses’ perspectives on unconventional therapies. Cancer Nursing. 22, 3, 238-245. House of Lords (2000) Science and Technology - sixth report. Available from: www.parliament.co.uk Kemper K (2001) Complementary and alternative medicine for children: does it work? Western Journal of Medicine. 174, 272-276. Rankin-Box D (1997) Therapies in practice: a survey assessing nurses’ use of complementary therapies. Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery. 3, 92-99. Sawyer M et al (1994) The use ofalternative therapies by children with cancer. The Medical Journal of Australia. 160, 320-322. Iyengar BKS, Razazan D, eds.,2001, Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health. London, England: Dorling Kindersley Ltd; Vol.95: pp.1110-1117 Cohen L, Warneke C, Fouladi RT, et al.,2004, Psychological adjustment and sleep quality in a randomized trial of the effects of a Tibetan yoga intervention in patients with lymphoma. Cancer. Vol.100:pp.2253-2260. Culos-Reed S, Carlson LE, Daroux LM, et al. ,2004,Discovering the physical and psychological benefits of yoga for cancer survivors. Int J Yoga Therapy. Vol.14: pp.45-52 Read More